Have you ever heard the quote that there is a
“God-shaped hole” in the heart of every person?
This sentiment is attributed to writer and philosopher Blaise
Pascal. But he didn’t actually put it
quite that way. Here is an excerpt of the quote
(incidentally, I’m going to add some brackets for clarification, but I will
have the full quote in a link):
“This [inherent emptiness] he tries in vain to fill with
everything around him…though none [of the things he turns to] can help, since
this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object;
in other words by God Himself.” By the
way, I didn’t know that we had accidentally morphed Pascal’s words until I
discovered a blogger who relayed his real quote. All credit goes to her. Here is the link to her blog with the Pascal
quote in its entirety.
Pascal wrote this way back in the 1600’s, but it is as
relevant today as the day he first penned it.
He said that mankind has an inner emptiness in their soul and they don’t
know what will alleviate it. So they
turn to anything and everything under the sun: money, power, food, recognition; here’s a particularly relevant one: do you think anyone has turned to sex today? The answer, of course, is yes. It just amazes me how this culture is
completely fixated and obsessed with the topic of sex. The culture proclaims that living a life of
unrestrained sexual expression is not only the normal existence for every human
being, but that this road leads you to fulfillment, satisfaction, and
bliss. But this is a lie.
The truth of the matter is, none of these
things ultimately have the capacity to fill the emptiness of the soul. Why not?
Because as Pascal put it, “this infinite abyss can be filled only with
an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God Himself.” The Bible says that God “satisfies the longing
soul” (Psalm 107:9; ESV).
You say, “This sounds great! But will you flesh this out for me? What do I have to do to experience this?” In short, you need to
commence a relationship with God; you can’t experience fulfillment with someone
you don’t know. Got questions.org has a
great article on this. I’m not citing
the whole thing, but I will quote a couple of paragraphs. First and foremost, I do this because of the
fantastic content. But secondly, I do it
because their copyright policy is quite gracious. They simply ask that the content from the
article is copied just as they wrote it, and that they are credited for the
work. Here now is their material:
“The only way any of us can have a relationship with a
holy God is to admit that we are sinners, turn away from that sin, and accept
the sacrifice that Jesus made to pay for sin.
We connect with God through prayer.
We pray in faith, believing that God hears us and will answer. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is
impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he
exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” We confess our sin, thank Jesus for making
a way for us to be forgiven, and invite Him to take control of our lives.
Coming to God through faith in Jesus Christ means we
transfer ownership of our lives to God.
We make Him the Boss, the Lord, of our lives. We trade our old self-worshiping hearts for
the perfection of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Romans 12:1 gives us a visual description of what takes place: “Present
your bodies as a living sacrifice.”
Picture an altar dedicated to the only true God. Then imagine crawling onto it, lying down,
and saying, “Here I am, God. I’m a
sinner but you love me anyway. Thank you
for dying for me and rising from the dead so my sin could be forgiven. Cleanse me, forgive me, and make me your
child. Take me. All of me.
I want to live for you from now on.””
It’s Easter Sunday!
I once heard someone refer to this day as “Super Bowl Sunday” because
this is the big day for so many Christians around the globe. My mind has been on those of you who are
still on the fence. Nothing is more important than giving your heart and life to Jesus Christ. If you’ve never made this important choice, Easter Sunday is a great day to do so! I've been praying for you; I've been praying that you would say "yes" to God.
To clarify, it’s not the words that you say; it’s the
attitude of your heart. A reciting of
words doesn’t save you; faith in Jesus Christ saves you. The Bible says, "Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Call on the name of the Lord, beloved reader. “Come, everyone who thirsts,” Isaiah implores,
“Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come buy and eat! Come buy wine and milk without money and
without price. Why do spend your money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?”
(Isaiah 55:1-2) As Blaise Pascal put it,
“This infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object;
in other words by God Himself.”
In conclusion, making a decision like this doesn’t mean that all of your problems
will magically go away forever. On the
contrary, life will still tough. But,
that said, giving your heart and life to Jesus is the best decision you will
ever make. I can attest to this from
personal experience.
Kevin
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